Monday, October 09, 2006

DMOZ Rules Prohibit CorelDRAW Sites

I have been working with a Web site promotion expert. As part of the process, we talked about DMOZ, the open directory project. If you aren’t familiar with DMOZ, it allows anyone to submit a Web site for inclusion, and a human editor will review that submission and decide if the site should be included. The first issue that DMOZ faces is finding volunteer editors. I decided to apply to be an editor in the CorelDRAW category to help improve the quality and freshness of sites included. I honestly didn’t expect I would be selected, but the reasoning they gave for denying my application was shocking.

As part of the application process, you are required to submit three sites you feel should be included. After looking at the list of sites already included, it was pretty easy to come up with three sites that weren’t included. My first site was the CorelDRAW home page at Corel. Gee, they do make the software, so they are a no brainer. Next up was the CorelWORLD Conference home page. There is only one company that does these conferences so it only makes sense they are included. Lastly, I added the Anzai page for Step-By-Step manuals. Yes, we have Tom’s manuals on our site as well. But my link was directly to his home page. Sure, Graphics Unleashed should also be included, but I wasn’t doing this to self-promote as much as to help build a good list of sites for DMOZ.

I wasn’t surprised that my application was declined. They could easily have stated that I have a conflict of interest and denied my application. Instead they dropped me because the sites I chose also covered Corel PHOTO-PAINT and that is a different category by their definition.

I applied again and explained that the category they created for CorelDRAW was incorrect to begin with. It is found under image editing, and CorelDRAW is most definitely not an image editor. I explained that Corel PHOTO-PAINT comes in the CorelDRAW box and that they worked together. I explained that some of the sites already listed in DMOZ are bad choices. I explained that the sites already listed did cover both products. Twice more they declined me. I kept thinking to myself of other valuable resources about CorelDRAW that aren’t listed, and I couldn’t come up with a single choice that doesn’t cover both products in some way. That leads me to believe that beneficial sites can not qualify under the rules set forth by the person denying my application.

Let’s go over the seven sites currently listed, and maybe you’ll better understand why it is important the list needs to be corrected.

Click N Learn—There is no doubt they are a valuable resource. We sell all of their training CDs to the North American market. But, by the definition I was given, their site doesn’t qualify since they cover CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT.

CoCUT—Again, no beef from me about this one. And once again, it is a product we sell. Technically it is an add-on that also works with Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Freehand and AutoCAD. By the DMOZ definition, it doesn’t qualify.

Corel Designer—This one is really a bad choice. The Web site was shut down five years ago! Where it really confuses me is that there is a product called Corel Designer and it is definitely not CorelDRAW.

Corel Magazine—They haven’t published a magazine in over seven years! When they did, it covered CorelDRAW, Corel PHOTO-PAINT and Corel DREAM. Again, by definition, it doesn’t belong.

IsoCalc.com—This might be the only site that should be listed by the definition given. I’d almost bet there is information on the site about Corel PHOTO-PAINT if I were to dig around.

Oberon—They have wonderful add-ons for CorelDRAW as well as information on creating your own scripts and macros. The macros work in both CorelDRAW and Corel DESIGNER and there is information on scripting in Corel PHOTO-PAINT. By definition, they can’t be listed.

Square One Graphics—At one point, Jim did have good information for CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT users. Oops! Doesn’t qualify by definition. Plus, he has changed directions and the site doesn’t have that same information.

Of the seven sites they currently list, I can only make a case for one that qualifies by the definition they gave me. I’m sure if I were to look in other categories, I could also find fault with a number of sites if I followed this strict definition that sites can only have information on a single topic.

I’m going to ask two things of you so that we can try to solve this problem. I’d love to see someone, anyone, become an editor for this category. It takes less than five minutes to apply. There is something even simpler you can do. You can suggest a site for the category. This requires a URL, a title and a short description. It might take a minute or two to suggest a site. Suggest lots of sites if you wish. I want to flood them with input from users about their favorite sites so that this category can truly grow. Sure, I want you to suggest Graphics Unleashed as I feel we are more than worthy of inclusion. But I also want you to submit others sites that are of value to you as a CorelDRAW user. Don’t worry about their definition of CorelDRAW-only. Focus on sites that you find valuable.

The open directory project is a joke. I applied as an editor for Paint Shop Pro 2 years ago and was turned down because I write tutorials for Paint Shop Pro.....Free tutorials mind you.....and I don't sell anything on my web site.

I've tried to use links from DMOZ and most of them are outdated. I agree with "anonymous". Effort would be better applied creating more related content at some of the web boards or sites which come up on pages 1 and 2 when a Google search is done.